ARTICLES ABOUT SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP BY DATE - PAGE 2

2-1-4-1-1-2-2-3-2-2. No, that's not Hale Irwin's telephone number. That's where he has finished in his last 10 Senior PGA Tour events. Sunday at Kemper Lakes, he'll add another 1 to that string. About the only way Irwin can lose is if there's a monster living in the lake near the 18th green and the monster gets real hungry about 5 p.m. Irwin is so far ahead in pursuit of his fourth victory of the year that he's hard for the naked eye to see. After a 66 Saturday, Irwin is 16 under par. He leads Larry Nelson and Bruce Summerhays by eight shots with 18 holes to play in this year's Ameritech Senior Open.

A major last week--the Senior Players Championship. A major next week as well--the U.S. Senior Open at Riviera. This week's Ameritech Senior Open at Kemper Lakes finds itself caught in the middle; the lettuce, tomato and mayo in a big-cheese sandwich. Thank goodness for Gil and Hale, two guys who never, ever lose their appetite--for victory. If he weren't this year's Ameritech defending champion, Morgan, who won last week, might have considered taking this week off. Irwin, who finished second Sunday, might have been excused for doing likewise.

Hot putter. Memorable wedge. Gil Morgan used both to forge a two-stroke lead over his biggest rival Friday in the Senior Players Championship. Morgan, who eagled the 10th hole, shot an 8-under-par 64 in the second round for a 133. That earned him a third-round pairing with Hale Irwin, who shot a 69 for 135 at the TPC of Michigan in Dearborn, Mich. Jack Nicklaus, who designed the 6,876-yard layout in the shadow of sponsor Ford Motor Co.'s world headquarters, shot 70 to tie Jim Albus at 137. Albus shot 69. "Yesterday I played at a pretty high level, tee to green," Morgan said.

Larry Gilbert is gone, yet his memory is very much in evidence this week at the Senior Players Championship in Dearborn, Mich. The cigar-chomping Gilbert, who died of lung cancer in January, won the championship at the TPC of Michigan last summer. "It hit our tour hard," said Dave Stockton, a two-time winner of this tournament. Gilbert, who spent most of his life as a club pro in Kentucky, won the Senior Players Championship last summer. It was the stuff of high drama as Gilbert, 54, closed with a 5-under-par 67 for 274 and a three stroke victory over Stockton and three others.

Senior PGA Tour golfer Larry Gilbert died Wednesday at Samaritan Hospital, less than four months after being diagnosed as having inoperable lung cancer. He was 55. Gilbert was the classic Senior PGA Tour success story, a club pro who won less than $20,000 on the regular tour before tapping into the over-50 circuit for $3.2 million in winnings. Gilbert was diagnosed with cancer in September, less than two months after winning the Senior Players Championship in Dearborn, Mich.

David Toms struggled. He lost his PGA Tour card. He got it back. He struggled some more. The few times he contended, he folded down the stretch. Sometimes, he wondered if he was meant to be a pro golfer. Toms ended nine years of frustration Sunday, riding a hot putter to a 5-under-par 65 and a three-stroke victory in the Quad City Classic at Coal Valley, Ill. His winner's share, $243,000, was more than he had earned in any year. "I've had people tell me, `It's your time, it's your time, it's your time.

Keith Fergus gave up competitive golf in 1987. Seven years later, at age 40, he resumed his career. Now he's leading the Quad City Classic after two rounds in a bid for his first PGA Tour victory in 14 years. Fergus shot a 6-under-par 64 Friday in Coal City to go 9-under for the tournament. He has a one-stroke lead over Ed Dougherty and Robert Gamez. Russ Cochran, David Toms and former University of Iowa standout Sean McCarty were another shot back. "I played on Tour and had some success, winning three times, but I wasn't enjoying it anymore.

Distractions. Distractions. When one of the greatest golfers on the planet reported to work Thursday, he got a taste of what the most famous athlete on the planet goes through every day. Hale Irwin, welcome to Michael's World. The defending Ameritech Senior Open champion said he had fun--even though "we (Irwin and Ameritech CEO Dick Notebaert) got taken to the cleaners. It's not often that you get the chance to play with the gentleman I played with." Playing golf with Michael Jordan is a slam dunk of a day--even if you're Hale Irwin.

Adjustments off the course have helped Raymond Floyd's golf game on the course. "I had gotten to the point where I wasn't practicing enough and it was showing in my game," Floyd said after building a four-stroke lead through three rounds of the Senior Players Championship. Floyd birdied five of the first seven holes Saturday en route to a third-round 65 and a four-stroke lead over Hale Irwin.

Through a quirk in the schedule, the fourth senior major tournament of the year--the Senior Players Championship, which starts Thursday at the TPC of Michigan--comes one week after the third. For the most part, though, the entrants themselves don't mind that they've got another grueling test immediately after playing the U.S. Senior Open. "I really don't think that much about it," said J.C. Snead, who had a 16-under-par total of 272, then beat Jack Nicklaus on the first playoff hole to win the 1995 Senior Players Championship.